OH no - here we go again. As queues build up at the petrol pumps, memories are revived of the shortages of 2000, when fuel protestors brought traffic to a standstill and blockaded oil refineries.

Now direct action is being urged again, with a fuel protest being planned for next Wednesday at 6am if relief is not given to users of commercial fuel.

Motorists will view with alarm the prospect of panic buying, queues and blockades - yet most will themselves buy petrol in a panic, because it's human nature and because they need fuel to continue their daily lives.

While it is understandable that motorists should be annoyed by the rises at the pumps, it has to be remembered that the blame this time round is being put on Hurricane Katrina's destruction of oil installations.

Even the Government's harshest critics must concede that these events are out of its sphere of influence. However, Chancellor Gordon Brown still has room to move and should consider tinkering with tax rates to ease the problem.

A planned inflation increase in fuel duty was abandoned last year because of "volatile" oil prices. There is even more volatility now, so further changes could be made to the tax system.

For all that, we cannot condone the fuel protestors. If next week's action goes ahead, motorists will face long queues, frustration and misery. It is hard to see how that will improve anything.

We are in danger of facing the same fiasco every time the cost of fuel rises. The Government must find a better way round what looks like being a recurring problem.

Updated: 10:19 Thursday, September 08, 2005